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Grell Sutcliff
Grell Sutcliff (グレル サトクリフ Gureru Satokurifu) is a Shinigami who poses as Angelina Durless's butler and is a main antagonist during the Jack the Ripper Arc in the manga and anime. Later in the anime, Grell becomes a supporting deuteragonist. Appearance Grell initially appears as a meek, slender man with long, brown hair tied back with a red ribbon, golden yellow eyes like most Shinigami, and round glasses. He dresses in simple, mostly brown clothes to match his seemingly shy personality. However, it is later revealed that this is not his true appearance, as he is actually a Shinigami. In his Shinigami form, he has long, red hair, golden yellow eyes, false eyelashes, shark-like teeth, and red-framed glasses, which are accessorized with a neck chain adorned with skulls. He also wears a suit like other Shinigami that includes gloves and a tie, high-heeled ankle boots, and a red coat he took from Angelina's corpse, which he slings off his shoulders and wears around his elbows. Occasionally, his tie is replaced with a red-striped bow. In the forth OVA, as a young student, he is shown to have short red hair, similar to that of Ronald Knox in style, and wears a black suit, with a black tie, which seems to be the standard shinigami uniform, as most shinigami wear this. He also wears standard-issue trainee glasses, carries a small trainee death scythe. Personality Grell, as Angelina's butler, is shy, awkward and fairly ineffective at his job, ruining even simple things like tea and getting lost when driving a carriage. In the anime, this results in him staying at the Phantomhive manor to be trained by Sebastian, but his presence only serves to annoy and anger the entire Phantomhive household. Furthermore, whenever he messes something up, he has a tendency to overreact and attempts to commit suicide in a fit of melodramatic humiliation. During one of these attempts, Sebastian stops him and it is at this point that Grell's pre-existing admiration for him becomes a full-blown crush (but it turns out to be infatuation). Despite these constant attempts to end his life when he does something wrong, others only stop him to avoid the resulting large, bloody mess (Sebastian informs him that he can kill himself off the Phantomhive premises, indicating a lack of friendship between himself and other servants). He eventually does this so often that even the Phantomhive servants give up on trying to stop him, much to his surprise. As a Shinigami, however, he is over-the-top and flamboyant, with a tendency to use female nouns and pronouns when referring to himself (called onee kotoba, "big sister speech", this is a common affectation of gay and MTF transgendered people in Japan.) Grell refers to himself with female terms many times in both the anime and manga, and in the manga and character guide (written by the author) has expressed a desire to have a female body. In the musical, he explicitly asks to be referred to as 'She', not 'he'. He also has a tendency to put things in terms of theater, referring to Angelina's death as the falling of curtains on a theater act, and comparing his relationship with Sebastian to the famous play, Romeo and Juliet. He apparently has feelings for Sebastian, much to the latter's disgust, and gives Sebastian an affectionate nickname (varies depending on translation- Sebas-Chan in Japanese, translated by some fansubs as "Sebby", by Yen press as "Sebastian-darling" and by Funimation as "Bassy". Despite his overwhelming love for Sebastian, he seems well aware that Sebastian hates him as shown in episode 10 of Kuroshitsuji II. During their "tea date" Grell was very frightened and kept mentioning that although it was what he had always wanted, it didn't feel right. Although Grell realizes that Sebastian does not return his affections and even finds them distasteful, he is so smitten that he allows the demon to take repeated advantage of him, willingly trading his assistance for small favors (such as Sebastian striking handsome poses for his camera) even when that assistance results in injury or embarrassment. Apparently he feels that any attention from Sebastian is better than none. However, his affections are not limited to Sebastian, as he seems to find men, in general, attractive. For example, with William Spears, while he calls him a sadist, he seems enamored by his eyes, saying they send chills up his spine. In Kuroshitsuji, after seeing Undertaker's eyes, he inmediately says: "Hold me" (Also a double-entendre in Japanese for a sexual proposal), indicating he finds him attractive. He also hunts down Pluto, saying he made his hunk radar go off. In particular, he seems to favor those he deems immoral. Initially it would appear that the other Shinigami do not seem to be overly fond of him as William constantly refers to him as "trash", but the manga and musicals imply that only William has a problem with him, as the other Shinigami respectfully call Grell "Senpai". Ronald Knox in particular is exceptionally fond of him, as Ronald always refers to him as "Senpai" and takes his advice on things over William's. Grell's favorite color is red, as he is described as the Shinigami in red by Angelina, commits the Jack the Ripper murders so he can paint "ugly" women red with their blood, and says ordinary women are not fit to wear the color. He tells Angelina that he will join forces with her because of his empathy with her desire for a child; he too wishes to be able to give birth, he says, but is unable to because of his male sex. Grell has two distinct personalities. Most of the time he is cheerful, if somewhat sadistic, with a playful flirtatious quality, and is usually seen whining about William or flirting with Sebastian. However, at any given time, Grell can switch to a frightening and bloodthirsty persona who will do anything for the desired results. Apparently, he is apathetic to the fact that neither William nor Sebastian have any interest in him, as shown in the third OVA when William stabbed him in the head twice, Grell didn't seem to care that there was blood running down his face, rather, he simply continued to flirt with both William and Sebastian. History When Madame Red (Angelina Durless) started the Jack the Ripper murders, he followed her around, as she was the reason his death list was so full. He reveals himself after one of the murders, and says he understands her feelings, because he cannot have children of his own. He agrees to help her, and takes up the disguise of her butler to avoid suspicion. Manga's Synopsis Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper Grell initially appears with Angelina and Lau in Ciel Phantomhive's London townhouse, searching for tea. He accompanies Lau, Ciel, Sebastian, and Angelina while they gather information on Jack the Ripper, but does not play much of a role. He also accompanies them to Aleister Chambers' party, where it is later revealed that he briefly left in order to commit another murder. Eventually, Ciel and Sebastian deduce that Jack the Ripper is Grell and Angelina, working together. They go to stand guard over the next victim, but he is able to get in to kill her anyway. Challenged by Sebastian, he reveals that he is a Shinigami, and they question why he broke the Shinigami code of neutrality; he replies that it was for love of a 'certain woman'. He begins a brief confrontation, attacking Sebastian, and using his death scythe, he is able to gain the upper hand. He sees Angelina's hesitation to kill Ciel, and insists that she do it. When she says she cannot, and tries to explain, he kills her in anger with his death scythe, stabbing her in the chest. He then takes her red coat off her corpse, stating that she has disappointed him--that she is no better than other women, and is not fit to wear red. 250px|thumb|left|Grell and Sebastian duel after Grell kills Angelina. He turns to leave, but Ciel orders Sebastian to kill him. They engage in a fight again, and again, he gains the upper hand, landing a strong attack on Sebastian's chest with his death scythe, and revealing a rather dull cinematic record, much to his dismay. Despite this, he is overwhelmingly smitten with Sebastian, and delivers --as they continue to battle--a dramatic speech comparing the doomed romance of a demon and a Death God to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. (Sebastian remarks that this is most unfair to Shakespeare.) Sebastian finally fights Grell to a standstill by using a shred of his ruined woolen tailcoat to jam Grell's chainsaw. He then begins to win, and pummels Grell in the face (ignoring Grell's pleas to spare his face). He grabs Grell's death scythe and moves in to kill. Before he can land the blow, William Spears appears and uses his own death scythe to stop him from killing Grell. He leaps down, smashing Grell's head into the pavement, and lists off all of the rules that Grell broke. (In the anime - but not in the manga - one of the broken rules is attempting to share privileged information with outsiders; this is because Grell had tried to save himself by offering to reveal who killed Ciel's parents. Sebastian hesitated in mid-strike, and William interrupted at that moment.) William, though he dislikes having to treat a lowly demon with courtesy, grudgingly thanks Sebastian, then grabs Grell and drags him away by his hair. Noah's Ark Circus While not yet seen, after Baron Kelvin's manor is set on fire, the Shinigami are assigned various tasks. Apparently, Grell was given a mission relating to the Phantomhive family, which he is very excited about.Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 35, page 15 It is assumed this mission has to do with Wendy, Peter, Beast, Jumbo, and Dagger. Ship Voyage At the moment before the ship crashes, Grell is shown standing on the iceberg, indicating that he was the other Shinigami who was assigned to gather souls and investigate the moving dead bodies together with Ronald Knox. He reaches for the ship and began slashing people in order to collect souls. He then meets Ronald and they start to work together. Meanwhile Sebastian was hurrying to Ciel's and Elizabeth's position. They were defeating some moving corpses then decide to head to the 3rd boiler room as they are done in that floor. During their conversation in the first class front hallway, a zombie on a carriage appeared. It is quickly slashed by Grell, indicating that the pair will be moving faster as he stated that "it's a waste to act like good boy in such a feast". While making their way to the boiler room by making holes on floor aiming to be quicker, they coincidentally meet Ciel and Elizabeth, who had just made their way out from the duct, and Sebastian, who had just reached them in the same time. Grell got excited of meeting Sebastian (as complaining that he would put more effort on his make up if Ronald told him sooner) and was not letting him escape easily. During the fight, Grell accidentally slashes a window with his death scythe, allowing water coming in rapidly into the ship. Soon after that, Elizabeth showed her true strong nature and aimed to attack Grell. This was quickly stopped by Sebastian. Grell was about to continue his fight with Sebastian, but, as soon as he and Ronald found out that they could learn something about the zombies from Ryan by Ciel's order, they leave and head to Ryan. While Sebastian and Ciel deliver Elizabeth to her family, Grell and Ronald catch Ryan first. Grell asked him for a way to stop the moving corpses and Ryan then lead the way to his room where the device to stop them was situated. He was surprised to find out that the devise was nowhere to be found in his room. He lead them to find the one who took it, the Viscount of Druitt, and soon found him as well as Sebastian and Ciel. All of them were forced by Viscount to do 'The Phoenix' pose (edited by him) in order to make him turn the device on, and he did so. When the devise wouldn't work, Grell got angry and rushed to kill the Viscount. Undertaker interrupted to stop Grell, then threw him up above. Anime's Synopsis Relevant differences between the manga and anime will be covered here. It should be noted that the Noah's Ark Circus storyline is manga exclusive. Shard of Hope After Elizabeth Middleford is kidnapped by Drocell Keinz, Ciel attempts to find her alone. Grell finds Ciel and Pluto after the latter made his "hunk radar" go off, and teams up with the pair after Ciel promises Grell can kiss Sebastian if he helps. He first aids by explaining who Drocell is and follows Ciel and Pluto into the Mandalay manor. However, once inside, as he has to use scissors instead of his death scythe, he has a bit of a problem with cutting down the well-made dolls. Ciel abandons him briefly, leaving him to fend off the dolls while Ciel attempts to find Elizabeth on his own. Shortly thereafter, Grell makes his way out of the mansion with Pluto, and they meet up with Sebastian. They discover Elizabeth is in a sealed tower around the back of the mansion. He charges in with Sebastian, Pluto, and Ciel, but, fearing injury, doesn't help much until Sebastian specifically requests his aid. When they finally leave, he throws himself at Sebastian in an attempt to get his promised kiss, but Sebastian ducks out of the way resulting in Grell falling onto the floor face first. Sebastian discusses taking revenge for Angelina's murder, prompting Grell to flee stating he will have to collect his promised kiss another time. Book of Doomsday Grell is sent to Earth to retrieve a stolen Cinematic Record, on William's orders, and after getting tired, falls asleep so deeply, some humans believe he is dead and they send his "corpse" to Undertaker. When Ciel and Sebastian arrive at Undertaker's to get more information, he tags along, and sneaks into the cult's convent with them, in order to investigate further. While inside, he identifies the priest's Book of Doomsday as not being the stolen cinematic record, but tries to get closer to him anyway by impersonating a child to join the Heaven's Choir. However, he is not capable of doing so, and Ciel is left as the only one of the three who can successfully go undercover. Shortly thereafter, when Angela appears and kidnaps Ciel, he helps free Sebastian from her use of the cinematic record to tie him up and charges after her with Sebastian, chasing her to the Shinigami library. He aids in the subsequent battle against her, using a borrowed death scythe to help pin her up against the wall. However, when she aims to destroy the place, they are forced to flee. Conspiracy and Revenge He shows up in the burning London. He is shown initially mocking the dead (minus a still living baby he finds and remorcefully states he can't help), but then gets to work helping to reap the many souls, along with Undertaker and William. It is at this point that William returns hIS original death scythe, something that Grell is extremely pleased by. Kuroshitsuji II Opening He is shown in a red room among a pile of rag dolls, holding the Sebastian doll in his hand. He kisses the doll on its cheek before standing and ramming his death scythe through two dolls meant to be Ciel Phantomhive and Alois Trancy. Sebastian's doll also does not appear to be wearing any clothes, but clothes seem to be a non-issue with all the other dolls anyway, besides that of Ciel and Alois. The Female Butler Grell appears atop a building in London, saying that "the end of this dance signals death". As a young woman named Ellen seems to spontaneously combust, he comments on her burning death. Later, as Sebastian is chasing the arsonist Mrs. Turner (the one responsible for the death of Ellen, among others), Grell attacks him. Sebastian asks why he has not collected the souls of the people Mrs. Turner has set on fire during her run through London. is using a flash camera and magnesium powder to start fires. Grell first flirtatiously replies that he only wants to capture Sebastian, but then explains that his death list states he is only after one soul, Mrs. Turner, who will commit suicide five minutes after midnight. In addition, he tells Sebastian, he could not have collected the other victims' spirits, as the heat of the magnesium flames is so intense that it consumes not just the body but the soul as well. Sebastian secures Grell's help against the arsonist with flattery, saying that Grell will make a much better model for photographs than Ciel. The shinigami is delighted and gladly works together with Sebastian to find Mrs. Turner, who has Ciel atop Big Ben. The clock strikes midnight and the Death God and demon rush to the top. Seeing the camera, Grell starts to pose for it, with an impassioned speech about how women, like fruit, become more beautiful as they ripen with age and declares himself to be the "Queen of all fruits- the Mangosteen". He is immune to the flash and magnesium combo since he is a Shinigami. Five minutes after midnight the Turner woman burns and Grell is very upset, since the soul he was to collect has been burned away. He remarks that William won't be happy, but before leaving to tell him, he takes a picture of Sebastian and himself using Mrs. Turner's camera. Meeting Claude and the Finale When Alois is dying from his stab wound, Grell goes to collect his soul. Upon meeting Alois he looks up his history and reveals that Alois is actually Jim McCain and that Hannah is a demon. After briefly struggling with her, Grell is able to stab Hannah through her stomach with his chainsaw only to find himself soaked in blood and alone with Claude. Claude asks if Grell is going to take back the soul he stole and whether he is allied with Sebastian. Grell responds that he will just sit back and watch as "things have gotten interesting". In episode 10, Grell follows Sebastian around with a camera, photographing him until the annoyed demon forces him to stop. Sebastian gives him Mongolian salted tea with far too much rock salt in it to retaliate, but then uses sex appeal (promising to strike handsome poses for Grell's camera) to make Grell kill the Demon Triplets with his death scythe. In episode 11 he is briefly shown helping Sebastian during his trip through the maze of Alois Trancy's heart. He uses his death scythe to cut the vines constricting Sebastian, but only after Sebastian openly glared at him for wanting to take another picture of him. Grell is later used as a sacrifice for one of the questions after he is seduced by Sebastian. Due to the explosion he is seen burned and knocked out for the remainder of the episode. Despite this Grell shows no signs of anger and appears more than happy to have helped. Grell makes his last appearance during the ending of episode 12 where he is shown along side William and Ronald. They appear to be reaping souls, but Grell is seen lazily yawning and stretching off to the side. He senses Sebastian and quickly turns to face him with a blushing and extremely happy face. Much to his surprise he instead finds a table that is set with 3 cups of tea (for him, William, and Ronald) and a candy center piece. The tea is supposely the same from episode 10 (minus the addition of the rock salt), as Sebastian states that the tea was something that Grell would enjoy. Death Scythe Grell has illegally modified his death scythe to function like a chainsaw, because he says the average death scythe is old-fashioned. He claims it is of first-rate quality. It has been shown to have the normal functions of a death scythe, including attack, defense, playing of cinematic records, and soul collection. However, Grell claims that it has the additional ability to "play a duet within the soul's last moments. Because it works like a chainsaw, if the rotating mechanisms within the death scythe jam, it is rendered ineffectual. He apparently carries it with him, as he has it right after the murder of the last victim of Jack the Ripper, but as he was not seen with it when walking out of the victim's house, it is unknown where he stores it. After the Jack the Ripper incident, he is demoted, and is given two pairs of scissors to use instead, which are much slower and more ineffective, as shown by how his previous death scythe could cut through anything, while the scissors cannot even cut through a steel doll. However, when he is needed, William allows him to borrow a death scythe similar to his own and later returns his original death scythe. He is also seen using it for transportation in Season II. The Tales of Will the Shinigami This OVA begins as William and Grell are assigned to mentor a group of students training to become Shinigami. One of the students asks about what the final exam will entail. The final exam involves two students being paired together and assigned a human soul scheduled to die. Together, the students must judge the human's life and determine whether to allow that human to live, or if the death should proceed as scheduled. Grell declares his nostalgia for the time, revealing that he and Will were exam partners, suggestively referring to the incident as their "First night". This prompts a flashback to the time of the exam in the late 18th century. Grell is shown as a very strong proud student who is upset at being paired with a boring student like William, whose scores are average. The reason is because while Grell had high scores in the technique portion of primary exams, his score on the written portion and ethics were considerably lower, bringing his average down. Will and Grell are assigned to reap the soul of a young aspiring novelist. Grell initially shows no hesitation in the decision to let him die, but Will insists that they observe him for longer before they make a judgement, as they have a month. Grell is indignant about this decision, fights with Will over it, beating him easily. They continue observing the author, and Grell changes his mind about his death when he calls him beautiful and he reads his newest book. When Will changes his mind, they fight once again. When Will wins, Grell is enamored with his strength. Grell saves Will's life after he encounters trouble attempting to reap their human target by himself, and they successfully collect the soul together. (Read more: The Tales of Will the Shinigami) Quotes *(To Sebastian) "I really wanna do some vigorous exercise with you."Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 9, page 28 *"Oh, Little Sebas-chan, I do love red the most. It's great for Hair, clothes, lipstick, I love them to be red. That's why I love using fresh blood to do make-up for those ugly women. The more flamboyant a woman is, the more she's as beautiful as a poisonous flower, right?" *"Lately, I've only been encountering unsophisticated prey. My scythe and I are unsatisfied."Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 9, page 28 *(To Sebastian) "Don't say that. I'm sure you'll become addicted to the taste of my 'Death Scythe'.'"Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 10, page 6 *"A good man's past makes people curious! But if he's a bad man, then it makes me wanna see even more!"Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 10, page 12 *"I'm going to use the heels of my shoes to step on this cold, uncaring face of yours! I want you to lick my shoes clean!"Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 11, page 25 *(To Sebastian) "This is great! I'm getting goosebumps all over my body, Little Sebas-chan! If I have your child, I will definitely give birth to it!"Kuroshitsuji manga, Chapter 11, page 30 *''"I'm a butler to die for!"'' *(To Claude) "Ally? What's with that cliched word? Supreme love is always a battle to death!" *(To Sebastian) "Such an ice king you are! A beautiful tyrant! An angelic devil! A raven with the wings of a dove! My little lamb with the appetites of a wolf...My very own Sebastian DARLING!!!" *(To Sebastian) "Ah, I can finally appear before you in my real form! Because isn't it embarrassing to appear before a handsome guy without makeup?" '' *(To Sebastian) "You would dare'' hit a lady in the face! Where are manners sir?!" *(To Sebastian) "I'll send you both to heaven!" *"I'm a deadly efficient butler!" (English dub's version of his catchphrase) *"Red is the colour of firey passion and I. Am. Flaming~" *''"If it's your child I have the urge to bear it!"'' *(To William) "Are you defying me?" *(To Sebastian)' "Let us play a wonderful Hide and Seek!" *''"No matter how much love I put in, it won't bear fruit... It's like... The tragic love story of Romeo and Juliet!"'' *(To Ronald Knox) "There's actually quite a lot of "impossible" things happening here" *''(To Sebastian) ''"Found you... Hottie" Trivia *Grell is left-handed, but by accident. Nobody knew if he was right or left-handed. In the end, Yana Toboso decided that his Death pose is done with his left hand, so he was officially made left-handed. *Several times other characters can be seen doing Grell's "Death" pose. Yana Toboso drew Ronald Knox and William T. Spears doing it, and in "The Making of Kuroshitsuji ll" OVA Lizzie asks Arthur Randall to do it as well. *According to creator Yana Toboso, Grell is the second strongest character in the series (the first being Sebastian). *Although Grell is bisexual, he is never shown having strong interest in another woman again after Madame Red. *In "Maiden Shitsuji " Grell refers to himself as Mangosteen, Queen of All Fruits. *In the manga while in his butler form, Grell's crush on Sebastian is more subdued. *In the anime, he is shown to have fallen in love with Sebastian the moment they met, and spends most of his time thinking about him. *In the anime when Grell is in his butler disguise, he pretends to be useless as he can't do anything right and keeps causing destruction. *In the anime, he agrees to help Ciel if Ciel will grant his wish, namely, permission to kiss Sebastian (with tongue). Ciel agrees, knowing Sebastian will never permit it. *After his chainsaw is replaced with scissors, said scissors shrink in size with each story arc that Grell appears in (Will took away the scissors that Grell previously had, hence why the scissors are smaller). *In Kuroshitsuji II, Grell's design is slightly changed. His vest, that was initially black, is changed to brown and his hair appears to be darker. His eyes have also been colored so that his pupils are a dark green and his irises are a light green. *Grell is very fond of using double-entendres and incorporating plays on words in speech, occasionally incorporating foreign language loan words *In reference to his job as a Shinigami, Grell's favorite word appears to be "death". *In a character "interview" written by Toboso Yana, Grell talks rather openly about being transexual and wanting a sex change. *In the same interview, he also admits to liking William just as much as Sebastian because of how cold he is to him. *In the manga and anime when Grell is in his butler form he is extremely reserved and shy, which is the opposite of how he truly acts. *The first musical instead portrays his true personality in both of his forms, meaning he is still prone to flirting with Sebastian even when he is supposed to be in disguise. *Possibly due to Sebastian being more willing to indulge him, in Kuroshitsuji II Grell wants to take a "lovers photograph" with him and indirectly tells Claude that he is Sebastian's lover. He also does not flirt with Claude, which is odd considering his penchant for 'cute' guys. *In episode 3 of the first season, he reveals that he has a rather good singing voice. *In episode 10 of Kuroshitsuji II, he has apparently taken up photography, as throughout the episode he is seen with a red camera. *Grell first expressed interest in this subject in episode 3. In episode 11, he still has the camera, but due to Sebastian's annoyance with it Grell does not use it. *In the anime, there is a running gag of characters seeming to be fond of hurting Grell's head and face, probably because he is so concerned about his appearance. *William constantly whacks him with his death scythe (and in the third OVA actually stabs him with it twice), and Sebastian repeatedly punches/kicks/throws objects at him as well. (Grell tends to express an enjoyment for this rough treatment, revealing masochistic tendencies) Grell also has a tendency to fall or run into things. *When Grell was a student, he resented being partners with William because Grell had higher grades in technique, whereas William was an entirely average student. *In "The Tales of Will the Shinigami" it is revealed that when Grell was a student, he had no feelings for William until he overpowered him in a fight. (William began as a pushover who was easily defeated by Grell in their first fight. When he began to show assertiveness and eventually strength, he fell in love and began to refer to him as "His man") *The meaning of Grell's name is twofold: Primarily, Grell is a nickname of Germanic origins for an easily angered person (most likely referring to his mercurial temprament), and in Japanese, it is pronounced "Gureru", which is a word meaning "To stray from the right path" or "To go bad". 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